Mysterious anonymous sender revives inquiry into murder of Christiane Commeau
Anonymous letters containing detective novels and personal annotations have been distributed in Isère, reviving the unsolved case of a waitress murdered in 2004 near Lyon.
Mysterious anonymous sender revives inquiry into murder of Christiane Commeau
In several communes around Voiron (Isère), residents have recently found unusual anonymous envelopes in their letterboxes. Inside were works from the famous San Antonio collection, sometimes accompanied by women's lingerie. These mailings, intended exclusively for women living alone, contained handwritten notes referring to the murder of Christiane Commeau, a case that has remained unsolved for more than twenty years.
The annotated messages evoked very personal aspects of the victim's life: her motherhood, her marriage, the places she frequented. One of them questioned the fate of love letters she is said to have received. These details, considered too intimate to be known by the general public, suggest that the author of the mailings maintained close ties with the deceased.
Dany Petit, who lived near Christiane Commeau at the time of the events, highlighted the confidential nature of this information: "You really have to be close, be intimate with someone to know that". Kathleen Letendre, the victim's granddaughter, does not rule out that the sender could be the murderer or an accomplice.
The tragedy occurred in 2004. At that time, Christiane Commeau, 54, worked behind the counter of the drinks bar at the bowls club in her residential area, located in the Lyon region. Shortly before her disappearance, she had told those around her that she felt she was being watched. On the fatal day, she had done her shopping before returning home and parking her car in the building's underground car park. She then disappeared. Four months later, her body was found in a forest area in Ain, at Niévroz. Experts concluded that she had died from two gunshot wounds to the head.
The inquiry, which had long stalled, was taken up by the unsolved cases unit in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine). Magistrate Marie-Céline Lawrysz suggested several possible motives for the sender: a desire to publicly claim responsibility for the act, to assert complicity, or manifestations of psychological disturbance.
Residents in the area where the letters were distributed expressed a mixture of fascination and apprehension. "It seems like someone is playing a nasty trick on us," one passerby said. Another described the mailings as "very curious".
Source: franceinfo
Source: France Info